Last weekend The Niagara Gazette published the most in depth, in your face news article on the Niagara Wine Trail in its weekend section of the paper. With the simplest idea of just visiting all twelve wineries and reporting back on each, the article hopefully made it to the breakfast tables of locals who haven't heard about the 800-pound gorilla in the room of Niagara tourism.
The article is fun and informative, stressing the differences amongst the wineries, instead of constantly highlighting the inconsistency of our wines and their obvious youthfulness in relation to Ontario's wineries as I've read in Buffalo Spree magazine. This article is just simply a report by a journalist who writes about the trail in a tone that I believe represents the locals who make their way into these tasting rooms; that is, with curiosity and without an unreasonable expectation of a Napa or even Finger Lakes maturity level.
Here are some quotes:
"It should be pointed out that the wines of Niagara County run a gamut from bland to sensational. There are dinner wines, ice wines, dessert wines, casual dining wines and silly wines."
"The Niagara Wine Trail itself has nearly become a tourist destination of it own, with a bright future. See our falls, then taste our wine. As the number of wineries and available retail outlets increases, word is getting out that some quality work is being done here."
While some publications like to focus on what it's not, this article focuses on what it is, AND what it can be. I only wish more newspapers and magazines can report back from the Niagara Wine Trail with the same kind of open-minded curiosity -- and without the Wine Spectator magazine-wannabe sommelier- attitude.
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